THE OLD STRIPPER - A Feature Documentary Film

Jack and I are on the road shooting the feature documentary THE OLD STRIPPER this summer. Started traveling in June. And this is the trip of a lifetime. We're traveling to all 48 states coast to coast nationwide, visiting my dancing cities and states I danced in back in the 1970's and 80's. Plus, we're interviewing burlesque dancers nationwide, young and old. This is going to be a great documentary film.

My son, director Jack Truman, is the only one who can make this movie. He grew up on the road with me on my burlesque circuit.

This is the trip of a lifetime.

THE OLD STRIPPER

A Feature Documentary Film

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LORI AND I HIDING OUR PAY IN OUR SUITCASES

LORI AND I HIDING OUR PAY IN OUR SUITCASES

When my friend, Lori, and I decided to go to Boston, Massachusetts to strip at the Two O'Clock Club, we were broke. I used the payment that I was going to send off to my son John's military school for our plane tickets. We were able to get a draw at the club when we arrived to get us by for the week until we made some money.

The night we got paid we hid our money in our suitcases. The dressing room was upstairs above the club. We got our suitcases and walked down the stairs. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we both looked into our suitcases to see if the money was still in them.

What was so funny about this is we had just put the money in the suitcases right before we walked down the stairs. I do not know where we thought it would go. Also, neither one of us knew the other one was going to look in her suitcase. We laughed about it. Our brains were on the same wave length. I guess it had been so long since we had had any money that we wanted to make sure it did not go anywhere.

Giving My Kids to a 'Regular' Family

THE OLD STRIPPER

GIVING MY KIDS TO A “REGULAR” FAMILY

I have always prided myself with the fact that I raised my two kids on my own with no help from anyone. There were many difficult times due to lack of money. There were many happy times. The happy times far outnumbered the difficult times. The whole time my kids were little and needed me was happy - even though we were not as well-off as most.

I always placed their needs and desires above anything and anybody. I know this made them happy; but it, also, made

me happy.

Sometimes during the period that I was raising my kids, a smart-ass would tell me that I should give my children to a "regular"

family – a “home” - a mom and dad situation - and quit dragging them all over the country. But I loved them and still do more than life itself. I could not bare to think about their being with

someone else.

One person who always aggravated me to give my children away was Frenchie, a regular dancer in Detroit. Her boyfriend or husband, I do not know which, was the manager. She was always telling me I should give up my kids. People like her I

hated immediately.

I am just glad that I never did listen to all the ignorant advice such as this. There was never a doubt in my mind that I was doing the right thing by keeping my kids. I was sure of it then; and I am sure of it now.

I tried to teach my kids that a house did not make a home; and when we were together, we were at home no matter where we were. I, also, tried to teach them that when we were apart – me at work traveling and them in their boarding schools – that we were still at “home” in our hearts and minds.

Many tell me this was selfish and maybe it was. But I am able to look in the mirror today and know that I did the best I knew how

and did not give them up.

If I would have given them up, maybe they would have been happier. But I would not go back and change it. I would keep my kids. Maybe I really am a selfish person drowning my selfishness with love. Maybe I was really placing my great desire before my children which was to have them with me. Maybe all the good things I did for them was really for me.

George Feeding Chico

THE OLD STRIPPER

GEORGE FEEDING CHICO

Lori Lanier and I were stripping in Cleveland, Ohio. We were going to only be gone a few days for the booking; so we kept our motel room rented in Canton, Ohio because that is where we usually stayed when we were not working. My boyfriend,who was one of the projectionists at the State Burlesk Theater, lived in Canton; so I liked to be around him as much as possible.

The manager at the burlesk theater in Cleveland offered to book us for two weeks. We took the offer. There was only one problem – Chico.        

Chico was Lori's spider monkey. She had left him in his cage with

enough food and water for the length of time that we would be

gone. But if we stayed for two more weeks, he did not have enough

food and water.

We were not sure what to do. Then we decided to call my boyfriend.

He agreed to take what Lori told him to take - apples - to the motel

and give them to the monkey.

When we got back to Canton it was really funny. George had just

thrown the apples in the cage. He had not cut them up or anything.

He said that he had gone to the desk clerk and told him that he

needed to give the apples to the monkey. The desk clerk told him

that they could not let him in our room without our permission. He

told them, “I don't want in the damn room! Here's the apples! You

give them to the monkey!” They let him in the room I guess they did

not want to feed the monkey!

Doing My Headstand at the Bar

DOING MY HEADSTAND AT THE BAR

There was a bar right next door to the hotel where I stayed in Syracuse, New York. Some of the girls I was dancing with and I went there occasionally. One night we went there, and I got really crazy.

We were talking about my headstand that I did in my shows. All the guys wanted to see me do it. I told them that I could not do it without a pillow. One guy said, "Here's a pillow!" - as he patted his stomach. I said, "O.K.! I'll try it.”

He laid down on the floor. I used his belly for a pillow and did my headstand. It was really funny!

That night the bar got on fire. The following day I went next door to see the damage. The owner was there. He said, "Well, Wild Star. I guess you just made it too hot over here last night!"

Becoming a Stripper Led Me to Become a Vegetarian



BECOMING A STRIPPER LED ME TO BECOME A VEGETARIAN

I feel that everyone should pay back to the world some way for the privilege of having lived. I feel that my way of doing this will be to fight for animal rights.

I was dragged through Hell to make me realize that it is wrong to kill animals. I feel that it is my "duty" to the world to, at least, let it know that killing animals is wrong. There is not a doubt in my mind about this.

If I had not been left to raise my kids on my own and become a stripper, I really feel that I would not have ever become a vegetarian. I knew I was going to have to raise them on my own with no help from anyone. I wanted to, at least, raise them until they were eighteen. I decided to study health. I figured if I could keep healthy, then I could live until they were both, at least, eighteen and able to take care of themselves.

By studying health, I realized that it was unhealthy to eat animals. Later on, I became radical about feeling sorry for the animals who are victims of slaughter and man's various appetites.

If I can be thankful for anything I have accomplished in this life, it is the fact that I realized that it is wrong to kill animals. All the hard times I had to go through was worth it if it meant I would realize this. If I had my life to live over, and knew all the hard times I would have to endure – but in the long run I would realize the injustice society dishes out to animals – I would say, “I will endure these trials and tribulations and be dragged through the “Pits of Hell” if that is what it would take just to know that it is wrong to kill animals.”

I have enjoyed all the worldly things. I have done everything I want to do as far as the world can offer me. I have all the worldly

"things" I ever want. Now it is my time to give back to the world. I feel that by letting people know it is wrong to kill animals is my way of doing this.

Best Decision I Ever Made to Become a Stripper

Opal Dockery

THE OLD STRIPPER



BEST DECISION I EVER MADE TO BECOME A STRIPPER

It was difficult to be a stripper on the road; but through it all, the good times outweighed the bad. This job enabled my children and myself to travel and see things that would have been impossible if I had worked a regular job. It was like being on a vacation all the time and getting paid for it. Whenever I think back, I know that becoming a stripper was the wisest decision I ever made in my life.

The following best describes my deepest feelings and is from my story in this book,VISION OF BECOMING A STRIPPER: But there was an unsettling deep inside me. The unsettling that has been with me all my life. The unsettling that I have had ever since I have had any sense of consciousness. The unsettling that will not let me stop and be satisfied with a certain situation or certain type of life for any length of time. The unsettling that knaws at my insides to do something else. The unsettling that will not let me settle down - my spirit.